Patients cannot receive effective treatment without a proper and timely diagnosis. For this reason, doctors are trained to correctly identify medical conditions based on a combination of the patient’s reported symptoms and objective medical studies.
Unfortunately, some patients are severely hurt when a doctor fails to make a correct diagnosis. They are denied life-saving treatment and often watch helplessly as their condition declines.
If you believe a misdiagnosis has harmed you, contact Hersh Kirtman Injury Law today. In these instances, Boca Raton doctors must be held accountable for their misdiagnoses, and a medical malpractice claim is often the only way for injured patients to achieve justice.
Which Diseases Are Most Commonly Misdiagnosed?
- Stroke
- Heart attacks
- Cancer
- Pulmonary embolism
- Lyme disease
- Celiac disease
- Depression
Sometimes a doctor diagnoses a patient with the wrong disease. In other cases, a doctor might make a correct diagnosis but do so too late, rendering treatment less effective than it would otherwise have been. In still other cases, the doctor tells a patient he or she is “fine” and should just rest—in other words, they make no diagnosis.
Regardless of the diagnostic error, proper treatment is delayed. We are not surprised when many patients reach out to us to explain that their illness is not improving, even though they are doing everything a doctor has ordered.
Identifying a Misdiagnosis
Few doctors will admit upfront to a diagnostic error. Instead, patients simply realize that their condition is not improving, even if a doctor has ordered treatment. They might simply believe that their condition is chronic and that there is no hope.
The best way to identify a misdiagnosis is to seek a second or third medical opinion. We recommend seeing a different doctor at a completely different medical practice. If this doctor offers a solid diagnosis that differs from the one offered by your first doctor, you could have a legal claim if the misdiagnosis caused harm.
Legal Options following a Misdiagnosis
A diagnostic error can dramatically impair a patient’s health. Someone who could have gotten well with correct treatment might end up in a hospital deathly ill. Other patients could simply struggle with depression and end up leaving work because they cannot cope. Still others lose loved ones as a result of misdiagnoses.
Diagnostic errors cost our clients considerable money in the form of additional medical care and lost income. Many also suffer from pain, emotional distress, and decreased life expectancy. Many patients end up needing surgery when conservative treatment could have been effective if offered earlier.
Medical malpractice is a civil wrong which could warrant compensation for the harms caused to you. At Hersh Kirtman Injury Law, we bring claims on our clients’ behalf to recover compensation for the financial costs caused by the mistake, as well as seek compensation for reduced life expectancy and pain and suffering.
Has a Misdiagnosis Harmed You? Call Hersh Kirtman Injury Law Today
Our Boca Raton medical malpractice attorneys have the experience you need. Please contact us today to schedule a free consultation to learn how we can help.
